Aww, how cute
Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to update and everything….
With spring break and all…and lots of homework from teachers…."
My bad.
I'm working on updating the other stories too so make sure you check them out sometime too!
--
The next few weeks were the same for the blonde. Sasuke was still a cold prick every second of every day; Nara still copped an attitude with him; and Gaara couldn't keep out of trouble. In the last two days, Naruto had to bail the red-head out of trips to the principal's office at least three times a day.
It was after school on a Friday and he was walking to the band room when he heard voices coming from inside…
"Man Kiba…it's great to see you."
Sasuke.
"Yes we're quite pleased."
Shino.
"Now we can really get back to work."
Shikamaru.
Naruto's gut fell as he heard them all. Kiba…Inuzuka wasn't it? Their old drummer that got injured by being in the wrong place at the wrong time and had ended up in the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds because of it.
"I'm glad I'm back. It was boring in the hospital bed all day long…"
That must be Kiba's voice…
"…And they wouldn't let me so much as touch my drumsticks!!"
The blonde took and involuntary step backwards only to run into a warm, taunt chest. His eyes closed and he took a shaky breath as the voice behind him broke the silence.
"Practice is starting. You'll be late."
Naruto was silent.
"Oh come on, Naruto…" An extremely pale hand reached around him and slid the door open. "They won't like you anymore…if…you're….late…" his voice trailed off as he saw the group of boys all crowded around the drum set. He recognized Nara, Uchiha, and Aburame….but who was the male with the spiky brown hair and two upside down red triangles tattooed on his cheeks?
"Sabaku-kun…" Shino blinked.
The red-head nodded to the new kid in the room and glared. "Who's this?"
"The drummer," Nara coldly snapped back.
"Na-"
"Gaara," the blonde quickly cut him off as he gripped the pale wrist and pulled. "Take me to get some ram-"
"Is that the only thing you eat?" Shikamaru asked. "Dried noodles and powered meat? That can't be healthy…"
Naruto didn't say anything or make eye contact, pulling Gaara more forcefully as the red-head started to growl.
The tattooed guy walked away from the group he was in and approached the blonde. "Hey-"
"Kiba we're wasting time!" Nara said impatiently. "We've got less than two months to perfect it!"
The Inuzuka kid looked from the blond to his friend then back to the blonde. "Uh…catch ya later ok?" His hand scratched the back of his head nervously.
"Kiba!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he snapped back at them.
"Whatever," Naruto replied, effectively dragging a stunned Gaara from the room. He dragged him through the school and out to the parking lot. "You drive…" he mumbled as he stuffed on his helmet.
Sabaku nodded as they mounted the bike and sped off to the store.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
It took only fifteen minutes to get from the school parking lot to the parking lot of the mini-restaurant down on Ninth Avenue. Ichiraiku's was the name of the place. A small noodle shop owned by an old man and run by his twenty-seven year old daughter, Ayame. The red-head parked the bike, noticing that on the ride here….Naruto had fallen asleep.
"Naruto." Gaara carefully maneuvered in a half circle to keep the blonde from falling off even though there was a death grip around his waist. "Uzumaki!"
"Hn?" came a sleepy replied from underneath the orange and black swirled helmet.
"C'mon you moron…wake up!"
"S..sasuke?" he moaned.
"No you dolt!" Gaara's rage and anger spiked at being called the raven's name so he pried the blonde's grip from around his waist and let the boy go, landing him in the cold, wet snow. "We're at Ichiraiku's." He paused before he added, "And if you ever call me that again…I swear to the gods I will castrate you!"
Naruto landed with a big THUMP! It was a couple of mere seconds, at least, until he shot up and started dancing around to get rid of the frozen water that had managed to make it down his shirt. "Gah! Cold…cold! Gaara you ass! Cut it out!"
"You look like you're doing a good job all by yourself." He half-heartedly waved and walked inside the store, leaving the blonde to fend for himself. Not like he couldn't. About five more minutes passed by until Naruto joined the red-head at the bar section. Gaara raised his thin red, almost non-existent, eyebrow. "Took you long enough."
"No thanks to you…" the blonde growled and glared as a woman with light brown hair exited the door that led into the kitchen, holding two steamy bowls of soup. "Hi Naruto-kun."
"Hey Ayame."
"Here you go. I know this'll help." She set the two bowls down in front of them; miso for the blonde and a chicken one for the red-head.
"Thanks."
"Sure."
Naruto grabbed a pair of chopsticks that were in the container on a small shelf above the ramen. The pair of chopsticks still bound together, he held them in front of his face, and eyes closed yelled, "Idakimasu!" as he separated the wooden utensils. He immediately dug in while Gaara calmly and slowly ate his hot noodles. "C'mo Gra! Eat op!" the blonde said around a mouthful of noodles.
"I'll take that as 'C'mon Gaara, eat up!'…" the red-head rolled his eyes. "At least I think that's what you were trying to say."
Naruto just nodded his head.
A loud laughing came from the back. "How're my favorite customers?"
"Warui!" Naruto swallowed the noodles left and answered before he lifted the porcelain bowl to drink the rest of the broth.
"Hai, same," Gaara replied.
A big man, in shape mind you, exited from the back doors of the kitchen with two more bowls for the boys. With both the red-head and the blonde attending his Ramen restaurant since they were practically babies, the owner knew them pretty well. Both boys really loved ramen and Gaara could eat as much as Naruto himself, although Sabaku just took his time to savor…or so he told them. "Here you go." He set down the steaming bowls and took the empty ones left behind.
"How are you old man?" Gaara asked as he stopped a moment to talk while his cousin slurped up the rest of his own ramen.
"Fair." He sat down on the stool on the opposite side of the bar. "Actually, I wanted to ask you two a question."
"Hm?" Naruto stopped in mid swallow, a bunch of noodles hanging out of his mouth.
The red-head smacked him on the back of his head, forcing the blonde to remove the pasta from sight. "A question?"
"Yes," the old man sighed. "I'm growing tired and old. And Ayame is faithful but she also has a life. We want to move the shop-"
"NANI?!" Naruto's eyes widened and he shot up. "ITSU?!"
"Sit down!" Gaara snapped and pulled him back to his seat.
The man smiled. "Don't worry. We're not moving far. Just to the other side of the university on Seventh Avenue."
While the boys' high school was on the outskirts of Konoha, the university was in the middle. It was one of the most respected universities in the entire world. And being one of the most respected places, it was quite big too. Both the red-head and the blonde were hoping to attend next year after they finished up their senior year, hopefully, with Grandma Tsunade's support since they'd both be able to visit and help around the hospital when she needed it.
"What do you need us to do?" Gaara asked before he blew on the still very hot noodles on the end of his chopsticks.
"I'd like your help moving things," he replied.
"When?" Naruto sucked down the rest of the broth in his bowl.
"Wednesday?" The old man turned around. "Ayame! When did you say would be a good time for you to move? I can't remember the time you get out of class!"
A light brown head peeked out from the back. "Yes, father. Wednesday, after class gets out at four."
The man mentally patted himself on the back for remembering as he turned back towards the two youngsters. "Can you help us out?"
"Sure, no problem!" Naruto happily replied.
"What about your band practice, Naruto?"
Naruto froze before he let out a full blown glare at his redheaded cousin, silently telling him, 'I'm going to rip of your balls if you mention one more word about those backstabbing bastards…'
Gaara decided to keep further comments to himself until he was alone with the blonde later. "Right," he said to the man who blinked at Naruto's overly harsh expression. "You want us here around four-thirty then?"
"Sure." The old man laughed. "That'd be great."
"Arigato, old man," Naruto said before he grabbed the back of the red-head's shirt and dragged him, literally, out of the store. He roughly threw him on to the bike and sat in front of him, turning the key and letting the motorcycle roar to life. 'Stupid Gaara…' he shoved on his helmet again and sped off back towards home.
--
Naruto and Gaara were putting the books they had taken home for homework back into their shared locker when a masculine voice sounded behind them.
"Hey."
The blonde and the red-head both turned their heads to see the source of the voice. It was that same brunette haired kid with the upside down red triangles tattooed on both of his cheeks. Gaara just leaned against the wall next to their locker and cross his arms while Naruto slowly nodded and replied.
"Hey." He held out his right hand while his left held his books and binder for his first hour class. "Uzumaki Naruto."
"Inuzuka Kiba." The brunette grasped it and shook with determination. "I'm sorry about yesterday."
"I saw it coming." The blonde grabbed a piece of gum from his jacket and shut the locker. "I'm not surprised."
Kiba grabbed the tan arm as it started walking away from him. "Really man. I'm not even supposed to be back here yet. You can still—"
Naruto yanked his arm away. "It's fine. You're the original drummer. I was just a fill in."
"Naruto…"
"Have fun at your practices…Inuzuka," the blonde said before he completely walked away. A few feet later, he and Gaara had to split up, not to see each other until lunch. They said their goodbyes and Naruto turned down the right hallway, to get to his classroom, only to stop at the sight before him. Sasuke was leaning against the outside of the door, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. "Teme?"
Onyx eyes shot open and glared harshly at him. "Where the fuck were you?"
Naruto blinked. "Me? Why do you need me?"
The raven growled at him. "You're supposed to be my bodyguard, remember? I've been standing out here for a good twenty minutes waiting for you! They won't even let me in the room until you're with me!"
"That's not my problem." Naruto walked past him and moved to open the door.
'That's what you think…' Sasuke sneered behind the blonde's back.
As soon as the blonde opened the door all of the girls scrambled from their seats and raced toward the door. Screeching and screaming, trying to shove more notes in his hands. "Ohayou." He smiled at all of them. Numerous girls fainted while the rest just squealed in delight. He lightly laughed at all of their rushed questions, 'Will you go out with me?' or 'Sit by me today Naruto-kun!' The blonde held up his hands quieting them down. "Alright, alright. You got me. I'll sit with you today."
More screams and squeals of joy as a few of the girls grabbed his arms and literally dragged him to sit down in the middle of all of their seats. The raven stared wide eyed at the blonde. What was he thinking? He cautiously slinked against the wall as he slowly moved to the back of the room and sat down. He sighed as another figure plopped down in the seat next to him. "Where have you been?"
"Apologizing."
Sasuke looked at his friend. "To the dobe?"
Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Dobe?"
"Naruto's nickname," the raven explained.
"Don't call me that teme!" Naruto hollered from where he sat then went back to conversing with the girls who giggled and smiled with every word he said.
Kiba blinked. "Didn't know he was a ladies' man."
"Neither did I," Sasuke grumbled.
The rest of the morning went by extremely slowly for the raven. Seeing as he had every single class with the blonde and in each class he sat in the middle of a ring of girls and made them giggle and squeal with every word he said. It was driving the young Uchiha insane with jealousy. All of those girls had Naruto's undivided attention. During the whole morning the blonde hadn't so much as looked his way and that ticked him off. He wanted the blonde to himself but no…the girls got first dibs.
He grumbled as he slammed the locker shut, ignoring Shikamaru's questioning gaze. But he immediately perked up when he saw the blonde cross before his vision and disappear behind a door. The door to the roof. He muttered a 'Meet you later' to the brunette beside him who shrugged and walked off as Sasuke decided to follow the blonde up to the roof. He walked up the stairs but paused outside the door that ultimately led outside. Cracking it open, he caught a sight of the blonde resting his back against the low concrete border that ran around the roof and the redhead standing and smoking a cigarette. He listened to as much as he could without making any noise to give him away…
"You're such an idiot," Gaara told him.
"Since when did you care?" Naruto snapped back as he thrust his hand into the redhead's back pocket and fished out the pack of cigarettes.
The paler man took out the lighter from his front pocket and dropped it down to the blonde as he replied. "Since you keep tempting a forbidden item."
Naruto stuck the cigarette into his mouth and lit it, taking in a deep breath before he handed the contents back to his cousin. "What 'forbidden item'?"
"Uchiha."
The blonde went into a coughing fit. "What makes you think that?!"
Gaara frowned at him. "Do you think I'm stupid? I see those looks you give him."
"What looks?"
"You deny it one more time and I'll knock my ashes into your hair, Goldie Locks."
"I don't know what you're tal—Hey, hey, HEY!"
Yup, the redhead did what he had threatened and knocked his cigarette ashes into the blonde's hair. Naruto jumped up shaking his head and running his non-occupied hand through his hair to get rid of the burning flakes. "Not funny asshole." He stood, bent over until he was sure all the ashes were gone.
"I wasn't trying to be." Gaara took a deep breath of his addiction. "Why don't you just throw him into bed and get it over with? I'm tired of your moping around 'cause he kicked you out of his imaginary hobby."
"And get charged with rape?" Naruto snorted, smoke coming out of his nose. "Let me get right on that for you."
The redhead shrugged. "Suit yourself. It's your fault if you lose him to some Barbie doll."
Barbie doll…was the name that Gaara had created for every single girl who wore all those short skimpy mini-skirts and shirts that hung down low to reveal their breasts. It sickened the redhead as much as spinach. He couldn't stand when those sluts walked up to him and batted their eyelashes that were caked with too much mascara and smelled of too many different body sprays. It made them smell even worse than when they didn't have any perfume on at all.
"I'm going to lose Sasuke just as fast as you're going to lose the Hyuuga," Naruto commented back.
This time…Gaara choked.
"That's right," Naruto grinned. "I've seen the way you've looked at Neji and the way he's looked back. Don't think that I don't notice these things."
"Then you've seen the way Uchiha looks at you?"
"No," the blonde admitted, "I already know that he's a cocky bastard who doesn't want me around. I'll admire him from a distance."
"You mean by hanging out with the Barbie dolls," the redhead stated.
"Yeah."
Gaara took another puff before he threw his cigarette down on the ground, crushing it underneath his foot. "He's just getting jealous."
"I'll believe you when he tells me that." Naruto closed his eyes as he brought the smoke back up to his mouth.
"Why don't you ask him?" Gaara's eyes instantly shifted to the door. "He's right there."
Naruto eyes snapped open and focused on the door where and onyx eyes turned large as saucers before they disappeared; the door to the roof shut loudly because it was so big. The blonde shot to his feet, the cigarette falling from his mouth to the rooftop as he ran to the door, throwing it open and disappearing down the steps as well. Gaara just smirked and laughed to himself as he crushed the blonde's forgotten cigarette underneath his foot, attention now focused on the passing clouds.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
"Sasuke!"
The raven heard his name called but he didn't dare stop. Not after what he heard.
"Sasuke!"
Oh no…the blonde's voice was getting closer and he wasn't even to the bottom yet! How was Naruto catching up to him so fast??
"Wait! Sasuke!"
The raven had just reached the bottom of the stairs and was close to grabbing the doorknob when he was yanked backwards. He felt back into extremely warm arms before he was spun around and thrust up against the wall. His head slammed back and he closed his eyes in pain for a second before he opened them to crystal clear blue eyes. Sasuke saw all kinds of emotion swirl in those deep pools of blue; confusion, happiness, anger. The raven would almost smirk at being able to cause all of the things cluttering the blonde's mind if he wasn't pinned to the wall.
Naruto's eyes moved back and forth traveling from Sasuke's left eye to his right, trying to figure and straighten his thoughts. "What did you hear?" When there was no answer, the blonde slammed him against the wall again. "Answer me!" he demanded although he already knew…he saw it in the raven's eyes.
"What do you want me to say?!" Sasuke hissed. "Yes I heard everything?"
"That's a start."
"Let go of me."
The blonde loosened his grip and let the raven touch the floor but didn't completely let go. "Why were you spying on us?"
Sasuke glared. "Go fuck yourself." The Uchiha instantly stiffened when he saw a flash of red in the blonde's eyes and he was once again harshly pinned to the wall.
"Don't tempt me," he growled to Sasuke, his mouth hovering just above the raven's, "Or I might just take you up on that offer…"
Sasuke licked his suddenly dry lips, "W-what of-offer?"
Naruto's growl went deeper and he was about to retort when the door that led into the school slammed open.
"What the-?" Shikamaru stood in the doorway, Shino and Neji behind him. "What are you doing?"
The blonde glared at the intruding brunette as he carelessly dropped the raven, who straightened himself before he ran from the area. "None of your business."
"I knew you were trouble!" Shikamaru went to grab for Naruto but strong arms held him back. He looked over his shoulder. "Let me go Neji!"
"Calm down, Nara," the Hyuuga said. "And let's go find Sasuke."
Shikamaru yanked himself from the taller male's grip and stormed out of the area as well, muttering curses right and left.
"Uzumaki-kun?" Shino quietly asked.
"What?"
"I hope, for your sake, that you haven't injured the President."
"He's fine," Naruto bit out. His gaze flew to the figure of Gaara lazily walking down the stairs but stopped when he saw the three standing at the bottom.
"Hyuuga?" he asked.
"Sabaku," Neji nodded back.
Naruto looked between the two then sneered back at his cousin. "Why don't you just throw him into bed and get it over with?" and he stormed back to his locker.
Gaara froze as he watched Neji's eyes wide; a crimson blush crept across his own face as he hastily looked away. 'Fucking Naruto…I'll kill him myself!!' The redhead muttered a 'sorry' before he rushed past Neji and Shino, trailing after the blonde. He found him slamming the locker door shut, his jacket on and keys in hand. "Where are you going?"
"Away from all the drama."
"Why don't you just ask Nara why he doesn't like you?" the redhead followed him through the hallways, ignoring all of the girls who wooed from their own lockers since it was near the end of lunch.
"Because I don't care." The blonde slammed open the doors and marched down the sidewalk, Gaara hot on his heels.
"Let me go with yo—"
"No."
Gaara grabbed his arm. "You're too angry. You're going to get yourself into some deep shit if you keep this up."
Naruto glared and yanked his arm back. "I'm going straight home. I still have to fix my bike after what you did."
The redhead's features softened. "I said I was sorry."
"I know," the blonde sighed. "I've got a lot on my mind. See you at home."
And Naruto left his cousin standing in the parking lot as he rode of back towards their house.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
The blonde arrived home some three hours later. He pulled into the driveway and drove up to the house but instead of parking out front or in the garage, he drove around back to the little building in the back. Or in other words, Naruto's shop. He stopped in front of the large door and turned off the motorcycle before he walked it inside. Once he had it inside he parked it in the middle of the room before he wandered back over to the door to switch on the lights. He turned back around to fully assess the damage only to be met with a pair of angry teal eyes.
Gaara was lying on the couch, arms folded across his chest with a scowl on his face. "You lied."
Naruto rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in mock surrender. "Guess you caught me dad. I'll do better next time…not."
"Where did you go?"
"I went to vent out my anger…"
"Did it work?"
"No."
Gaara sat up. "Who'd you vent on?"
Naruto grinned. "I found Zaku and his gang in the alleyway by the paint shop. Pretty convenient for me."
"If they don't come after you now."
"Nah." He huffed and walked over to the workbench, setting down the can of paint and reaching for a screwdriver to open it. "I think I scared him enough for what he did."
The redhead came over raising a nonexistant eyebrow as he eyed the new can of paint, "You told me—"
"I know what I told you." He wagged the paint covered tool at him, pushing a little too hard to try and open the can effectively immersing it in the orange liquid. "And it was all crusty. I forgot to put the cap on all the way the last time you scratched my bike."
"Hmph." Gaara turned around and went back to the couch and crashed.
"What happened that day anyway? You still haven't told me."
Gaara took a deep breath before he closed his eyes. "I got a phone call on my cell. It was Deidara and Sasori. They called wanting to talk and I told them to fuck off. They threatened to blow the whole school up if I didn't follow directions and they'd know because they said they were right outside. And they were."
"How the hell did they get your number? We changed phones as soon as we left Suna!" Naruto exclaimed.
"I know that," he snapped. "They told me to meet them somewhere and I did."
"Why?!" By this point, the blonde had thrown down his tools and stormed over to the redhead, who was lazily reclining on the couch. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because they said you'd be the first to go."
Naruto was silent.
"The only person I could think about protecting at that point was you, moron."
"I don't need to be saved."
"And that's where you're wrong!" Gaara bolted up and latched on to the front of the blonde's shirt. "Where would you be if I hadn't come for you? Would you be here, with me? Or would you still be with them? Better yet!" he yelled. "You'd probably be dead! At least then I could live a life without having to worry about you all the time!"
Naruto's face instantly sobered and he looked away. Gaara had sacrificed so much for him. For what though? What did the redhead have to gain by saving him from their clutches? "I already thanked you!" he screamed, "What more do you want?!"
"You sure don't act like you're thankful." The redhead set him down and flopped back down on the sofa. "Sometimes I just can't understand you."
"Ditto." The blonde laughed. It took another ten minutes to prep the paint and to darken it to his choosing. He would have asked for the direct color but it was a whole ten bucks cheaper by doing it himself. He touched up the two inch scratch and sat back in admiration of his handy work when another scratch caught his attention. 'Dammit Gaara!' his mind hissed as he touched that up with the paint as well. 'Oh what the hell…' he started to inspect the rest of the motorcycle, glad that he did, because he found three additional marks on his baby. Once he finished up with those, he cleaned all of his supplies, completely putting the cap on the paint this time so it didn't dry out.
He looked over to the couch to see that his redheaded cousin had fallen asleep and a wicked plan came to the blonde's mind. Naruto carefully walked over to the couch to make sure that Gaara was really asleep. Once confirmed, the blonde picked the sleeping body up bridal style and walked out of the shop with him. Naruto walked over to the back of the house where, conveniently, the fifteen foot deep in ground swimming pool was. He had to hold back his laughter as he walked closer and closer to the edge and then finally…he tossed the redhead into the middle of the deep end.
Gaara instantly awakened to the feeling of being immersed into the cold water. His head went under and he swam back up, sputtering and letting out a good string of curses. He quickly swam over to the edge, clinging and coughing up the little bit of liquid that had made its way down into his lungs. Then he looked up at the blonde who was clutching his sides and roaring with laughter. "You think it's funny?!" Gaara made a grab for Naruto but the blonde was smarter than that and had moved backwards out of the pale man's reach. "Get over here Uzumaki!" he yelled.
After a few minutes of non-stop laughter, Naruto wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Ahh." he sighed, "Payback's a bitch isn't it?"
Gaara sent him a glare as he hoisted himself up out of the water. 'Just you wait.'
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Two weeks flew by. Gaara continued to attend school most days while Naruto skipped most days and went elsewhere. It was after school on Friday and the redhead was putting his books away into his locker when a group of girls crowed up around him. He shut the locker and blinked at all their faces. What did the Barbie Dolls want with him?
"Will you tell us where Naruto-kun is?" one of them asked.
The redhead sighed. Of course.
"Please?"
Gaara moved his hands and to his surprise the sea of girls parted. He walked between them, now making the girls be between himself and the locker. "He's helping out our grandmother for a while."
"Well when will he be back?"
The redhead blinked again. "I don't know."
"Well you live with him!" one girl snapped.
"Doesn't mean I'm his babysitter!" Gaara growled back before he turned on his heel and walked away. He was about to walk out of the building when Neji came up beside him.
"Can we talk?" he asked quietly.
Gaara slightly nodded as he silently followed the Hyuuga into an empty room.
That wasn't so empty.
"Sabaku."
The redhead was actually surprised to see Sasuke, Shino and Shikamaru all in the room as well. Shikamaru was across the room, hands folded across his chest and staring out the window, while Shino was standing casually next to Sasuke, as the raven was sitting on top of a desk arms in his pockets. Gaara raised his eyebrow to Neji. "A conspiracy? You're lacking Inuzuka to make it a real trial."
"Not a conspiracy." The raven stood up and walked over to the redhead, who was a good four inches taller. "Where's Naruto?"
"What do you want with him?" Gaara countered with questions of his own.
"Why hasn't he been here?"
"Why do you care?"
Sasuke's glared was cruel as his voice went to barely above a whisper, "Everyone else…out."
Neji and Shino obeyed and so did Shikamaru…but only with a sigh and a look that the redhead couldn't quite place. Gaara glared right back at the raven before Sasuke sighed and turned around.
"I'm worried," Sasuke admitted. "He hasn't been around for two weeks…"
"Again. Why do you care?" Gaara asked again.
"You've seen the looks I've given him." The raven turned around with a look so desperate in his eyes, Gaara himself felt like holding the younger Uchiha. "I'm in love with him."
The redhead huffed out his disbelief. "It took you two weeks of him not being here to realize that? You're even dumber that Naruto himself."
"I know that!" he snapped back.
Gaara sighed. "He's probably home writing another song that will never be played."
Sasuke gave him a puzzled look.
"You know he plays the drums…"
"Yes."
"And he also plays the guitar…"
"Yes." The raven stressed the word.
"So he writes music in his spare time." Gaara shrugged.
Now Sasuke was the one who gave the disbelieving look. "Music? That's all he's been doing for the past two weeks?"
"No," he admitted. "He's also been helping out at the hospital, building me a car and swimming."
The raven's head spun with all of the new information. Did he really drive away his blonde sex god? He'd been feeling terrible ever since he ran away from him after lunch two weeks ago. And the raven hadn't even asked what had happened after Shikamaru, Neji and Shino appeared either. He figured that Shikamaru had scared the hell out of the blonde and that Sasuke had totally rejected him. It felt like he had rejected Naruto but he hadn't really…and he never wanted to. That boy was one of a kind and Sasuke was determined to have him all to himself.
"And he's been moping around ever since your little…argument." Gaara informed.
"What?" Sasuke looked at the pale man. "Moping?"
"Yes and it's getting quite annoying." The redhead turned around for the door.
Sasuke clung to the man's arm. "Where is he now?"
"I already told you. Home." Gaara shook off the raven's grip, "Go if you want. No one will be home until nine tonight. I'm sure that you two will need some time to fix your problems…" he opened the door only to find Neji Hyuuga leaning, eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest, on the opposite wall across the hallway, "Hyuuga?"
Neji's eyes opened and he hesitantly spoke, "I…uh…still need to talk to you…"
"Very well." Gaara grabbed Sasuke and shoved him out the door and dragged in the brunette, "7452 Namikaze Lane. Drive around to the back." And he closed the door leaving a stunned Uchiha standing outside in the middle of a deserted hallway.
--
Sasuke pulled up into the driveway of a mansion. Even the house he and his brother lived in wasn't as big as this one! He followed the redhead's instructions and followed the narrowed driveway path that led to the back of the house on the left side. He passed by the back porch and pool area, the half an acre of open area and past the two acre orchard that even passed by the garage and looked like it went on for at least ten acres more! 'Fancy place dobe.' Sasuke pulled to a stop and turned off his car. And when he exited his vehicle he was immediately hit with the notes of an electric guitar. But not only that…but the sound of drums as well.
'Did he prerecord himself?' the raven wondered. 'Of course he could…he's got the money for it…'
As Sasuke walked closer to the door he began to hear people singing as well…
"If I stay, it won't be long 'til I'm burning on the inside…"
"That doesn't sound too bad…" the raven admitted.
"If I go, I can only hope…that I'll make it to the other side…"
Sasuke cracked opened the door to see the blonde's back. Wearing a white tank top, it accented his tan skin nicely as his ripped blue jeans fit his butt perfectly. The black guitar strap was wrapped around his shoulders, the back of the neck of the guitar gleaming a shiny black while the blonde's right hand moved up and down with each time he strummed the guitar. Naruto's body swayed, his head bobbed forwards a few times as he complete the song. Or so Sasuke thought was the end.
The music stopped and Naruto leaned forward, looking like he was scribbling on something…probably writing the different notes down. Suddenly a phone rang and the blonde took off his guitar and put it on a stand while he walked over to a work bend and picked up the telephone that was hanging on the wall.
"Yo," Naruto greeted.
Ah…that voice was like heaven to Sasuke. And he hadn't heard it in so long…
"A new car? No." The blonde's voice was confused. "Grandpa, I didn't buy a new car. For me or Gaara. I'm still building his c—"
Obviously the person on the other end of the line cut him off.
"—The only person I know with a Ferrari is Sasuke…" He trailed off before he spoke up again. "Why the hell would Sasuke, of all people, be sitting in my driveway?!"
"I'm not sitting in your driveway," Sasuke spoke up and fully walked into the garage. "I'm right here."
Naruto spun around, practically dropping the phone pinned between his head and shoulder before he spoke a quick goodbye into the receiver and hung it up. The blonde blinked in confusion before he softly asked, "What are you doing here?"
The raven gave him a 'duh' stare. "I came to see you."
"What for?" he cautiously asked as he slowly walked closer.
Sasuke shifted uneasily. "To apologize."
"You didn't do anything." The blonde was now less than a couple feet from the raven.
"I was eavesdropping on you," Sasuke whispered.
Naruto was now directly in front of the paler man; their bodies less than a half a centimeter within touching each other. Naruto's tan hand came up underneath the raven's chin and forced him to look up into his own blue eyes. "That's the least of my worries right now."
"Why didn't you come back?"
The blonde shrugged. "You didn't need me anymore. Kiba came back and I became useless again."
Sasuke muttered something incoherent.
"What?" Naruto was amused by the Uchiha's sudden bashfulness. "I didn't catch that."
"I said, 'You're not useless'!" he repeated louder, a small blush creeping up on his cheeks.
The blonde laughed his hand moving from the pale chin to cup the left side of the shorter man's face, "You're such an uke."
Sasuke's breath caught in his throat as he heard those words…who else had said that to him? Itachi's friend, Kisame, a guy who had the strangest fetish for fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Sure the guy had meant it as a joke but now that Naruto said it and now that Sasuke thought about they were right. Even Shikamaru had told him that he was too soft sometimes toward people and that's why Sasuke started acting like his older brother. The raven might've acted like he liked people but in reality…they bugged the hell out of him.
"Sasuke." Naruto whispered, bending down and resting his forehead against the raven's own.
But Sasuke read what the blonde was going to do so he made the first move this time. The raven wound his arms around the tan neck, pressing his body closer to the taller frame and moved his head so that their lips were crushed against each other. Sasuke relished in the fact that Naruto's lips were as soft as they looked. The kiss lasted a whole two minutes before the raven pulled back, whispering a 'sorry' as he did. What he failed to notice…was the huge grin plastered on the taller man's face and it wasn't until his mouth was taken over by the blonde did he notice the joy and mischief sparkling in those cerulean eyes.
Naruto's hands wrapped around the raven's waist and pulled him closer. Sasuke tasted like heaven, he had never experienced a feeling like this before. His eyes went from half open to fully open when a big figure walked into the room and stood in the doorway. He wasn't planning on breaking the kiss but Sasuke did when a loud, 'Ahem' sounded. The raven spun around in the blonde's arms, a blush covering his entire features before Naruto slightly forced the raven behind his back. He nodded. "Grandpa."
The tall man had long white hair pulled back by a band at the base of his neck, the length of it still reached the middle of his back. "Your grandmother called. She says she'll be home a bit later tonight."
"Why? Her shift ends at eight."
"It seems there were a couple complications…in the maternity ward."
Naruto's figure stiffened a bit, "Does she need help?"
The old man smiled. "I think she can hold her own." He nodded to the raven behind his grandson, "And you seem to be busy enough."
"Pervy bastard," Naruto breathed.
Naruto's grandfather shrugged. "If you feel that strongly…call her up. I'm sure that she'd love to have your help again." And he disappeared, walking back up the house.
The blonde turned around at the still profusely blushing raven. "What?"
Sasuke swallowed the lump in his throat. "H-he just…"
Naruto blinked at him, silently telling him to go on.
"He just walked in on us…" he squeaked out, "kissing!"
"So?" Naruto snorted.
The raven put his hands on his hips, "I don't know about you but I don't just go around kissing people all the time."
The blonde's eyes hardened playfully. "You better not. I don't think I'd take that very well." He wrapped his arms back around the raven's waist and dragged him closer.
"Wait! What if walks in on us again?"
"He's got more important things to do…" And Naruto dipped his head back down and took possession of Sasuke's mouth once again. But this time he didn't stop at just a simple kiss. He licked the raven's lower lip, making Sasuke gasp from the sudden texture of the warm appendage on his mouth, letting Naruto take his chance to slip in his tongue. At first Naruto only explored a little, at least until he felt the raven respond back, then he went full out and devoured the younger Uchiha's sweet cavern.
Naruto pulled back, pleased that he could make the usually stoic boy flush, and kissed his temple. "Why are you really here Sasuke?"
"I already told you," he replied, "I wanted to apologize."
"And?"
"And…what?"
"You're such a girl." the blonde pressed, "Just admit it already."
Sasuke gave him a weird look. "Admit what?"
Naruto grinned. "Admit that you like me."
The raven had to think about that one for a moment. Sure he had told the redhead that but to tell Naruto to his face? Would the blonde laugh in his face or would the idiot say it back…just to make him feel better? Sasuke let his arms tighten, bringing him ever closer to Naruto and he laid his raven head on the blonde's shoulder whispering to him, "I love you, dobe."
"I love you too, teme." Hugging the raven closer, Naruto brushed his lips against Sasuke's pale ear, "And I'm not just saying that because you did. I really do. I love you Sasuke."
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A/N: Alright…done with this one too!
Any questions do hesitate to ask. Just add it in with your review and I'll get back with you!
Later.